Basketball standouts coming together at Southern Miss

A pair of former Neshoba County girls basketball stars will team up together, with Neshoba Central alum Carly Keats and Choctaw Central alum Meloney Thomas announcing that they will transfer to Southern Miss.

Keats graduated from Neshoba Central in 2022 and was a major part of the undefeated state title team for the Lady Rockets in that season, winning state championship MVP. She was also named to the all-state team and represented Mississippi in the prestigious Misssippi/Alabama all-star game.

From there, Keats played her first collegiate season at Jones College, where she thrived and earned All-MACCC first team honors and led Jones to the Elite Eight of the National Junior College Tournament.

After her freshman season, Keats made the jump to the SEC and played two seasons at Arkansas. Keats started 31 games in two seasons for the Razorbacks and was fourth on the team in scoring last season, averaging 6.9 points per game.

As for Thomas, the former Choctaw Central star will transfer to Southern Miss, after stops at Jones College, Mississippi State, and UL-Monroe.

Thomas was a four-year starter for the Lady Warriors, winning the 2017 state title and MVP honors, while also being an all-state team member during her time with the program.

Thomas spent her first two seasons at Jones College, where she was a NJCAA All-Star and led Jones to NJCAA Final Four and Elite Eight appearances.

After her time at Jones, Thomas signed to play at Mississippi State, but left after a semester to play for her former coach at Jones, Missy Bilderback, at UL-Monroe, who is now the head coach at Southern Miss.

Thomas started 29 games last season for the Lady Warhawks, ranking ninth in scoring in the Sun Belt and second on the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game.

Now the pair of Thomas and Keats will join Leake Academy alum Miriam Prince and try to bring new life to the Southern Miss program. All three formerly played under new Southern Miss Head Coach Missy Bilderback at some point in their collegiate career.